Our new print issue is a definitive take on the many failures of the Biden White House. Since the George Floyd uprising, discussion of how to shift public resources away from police budgets and toward human needs has been on the lips of millions. Over the past year, the city has quietly implemented one of the most important police budget reallocations in the country. Richmond is leading the way on shifting public resources away from more and more policing and toward social programs that can achieve real public safety.
The landscape of Richmond crime posed a particular challenge for this work. Gun violence dominated public perception of the area. Marked reductions in homicide and overall crime rates were narrowly attributed to police chief Chris Magnus, who helmed Richmond Police Department RPD efforts at community relations.
We are a city that has long understood itself to love and need a whole lot more of the police. Perez was unarmed, posed no threat to others, and had committed no criminal act. The DA declined to prosecute Jensen. Richmond police also participated in the sexual exploitation of Celeste Guap, a teenage sex worker who testified that on-duty officers from multiple Bay Area law enforcement agencies, including RPD, both sexted and hired her while she was underage.
RPD leadership abetted the cover-up of the case, and no criminal charges were ever filed against the nine participating officers. Six were issued written reprimands while three were fired.
As in the rest of the country, organized protests took place across the city. The official task force represented both an opportunity and a danger. Discussions about redefining public safety were given new legitimacy. But, subject to constrictive city procedures and appointments hostile to reform including the head of the police union , the new committee could have also been the cemetery where progressive public safety ideas went to die.
